Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.
Ira Glass
A brilliant summary of something we may not even notice is happening. The question is, what do you do about it?
The solution here is that you have to be okay with the first pieces not being great. You have to be okay if they’re flat out bad. Instead, you have to re-orient yourself toward progress and improvement rather than absolute outcome.
Focus on getting better, not on being good, yet.
You need something to keep you going, to get you through the first few years. Because if you give up, you’ll never make it.
Do the work. Even if it sucks. Even if it’s not ideal. Persistence gets you through.